February 2016 Asbmb Today 1 Editor’S Note
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CONTENTS NEWS FEATURES PERSPECTIVES 2 10 39 EDITOR’S NOTE THE PLACENTA: COORDINATES Dierence and growth A MYSTERIOUS ORGAN Haiku 3 36 41 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE STEAM EDUCATION Diversity rules Budding artist Beautiful setting for cutting-edge symposium 4 36 42 NEWS FROM THE HILL OUTREACH Not your standard advocacy 42 New York student members sign up organ donors 5 44 Why be a science fair judge? MEMBER UPDATE 42 6 JOURNAL NEWS 8 6 New Tabor award winner 7 Fenugreek may improve diabetes treatment 8 A transcription cofactor that alters our muscle cells during exercise SPECIAL SECTION 15 Q&A WITH NIH’S 24 HANNAH VALANTINE YOUR VOICES ON 20 QUESTIONING THE IMPACT OF ROLE MODELS 15 22 OPENING MY MIND 32 WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? 34 RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT 20 22 32 34 FEBRUARY 2016 ASBMB TODAY 1 EDITOR’S NOTE THE MEMBER MAGAZINE OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY Talking inclusion OFFICERS COUNCIL MEMBERS Steven McKnight Squire J. Booker and diversity President Karen G. Fleming Gregory Gatto Jr. Natalie Ahn Rachel Green President-Elect Susan Marqusee oet and activist Audre Lorde aged diverse voices and experiences? Jared Rutter Karen Allen said, “In our work and in our From their perches, were women and Secretary Brenda Schulman Michael Summers living, we must recognize that underrepresented minorities given Toni Antalis P dierence is a reason for celebration seats at most tables? How did hav- Treasurer ASBMB TODAY EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD and growth.” She also said, “It is not ing people of color, women, LBGT EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS Charles Brenner our dierences that divide us. It is and dierently-abled individuals at Squire Booker Chair our inability to recognize, accept and the bench or in the classroom enrich Wei Yang Michael Bradley celebrate those dierences.” scientic perspectives? Boy, they Co-chairs, 2016 Annual Floyd “Ski” Chilton Meeting Program Cristy Gelling Lorde, who was black, a lesbian, had a lot to say. We’ve printed their Committee Peter J. Kennelly and briey an academic, came of age responses in a special section in this Peter J. Kennelly Rajini Rao half a century ago, long before oces issue. Yolanda Sanchez Chair, Education and for diversity and inclusion at academic ey told us many things. Among Professional Development Shiladitya Sengupta Committee Carol Shoulders institutions were commonplace. Her them, that although scientists say Daniel Raben words still ring with currency. they want full equality, they don’t do Chair, Meetings Committee ASBMB TODAY We’ve come to learn that Lorde was what’s necessary to achieve it. at the Angela Hopp Takita Felder Sumter Executive Editor, right. Dierence engenders growth in push to stabilize funding for investiga- Chair, Minority Aairs [email protected] Committee our work. When we recognize, accept tors near retirement and for well- Lauren Dockett and celebrate dierences in our labs, established groups likely comes at the omas Baldwin Managing Editor, Chair, Outreach Committee [email protected] classrooms and workplaces, we do expense of the diverse junior and mid- Wes Sundquist Rajendrani Mukhopadhyay better. Diverse teams are demonstra- career investigators. And that institu- Chair, Public Aairs Chief Science Correspondent, bly better at identifying solutions, tions can recruit colleagues from all Advisory Committee [email protected] Valery Masterson diversifying research foci and keep- walks of life but it won’t make a bit of Blake Hill ing in check biases that can undercut dierence if they don’t also retain and Chair, Publications Designer, Committee [email protected] progress on projects. support that talent. Ciarán Finn F. Peter Guengerich Web Editor, Just as they did in the 1960s and We see these responses as the rst Interim editor-in-chief, JBC [email protected] ’70s, students nationwide again are part of an ongoing discussion about Herbert Tabor Allison Frick organizing and demonstrating — diversity and inclusion matters in Co-editor, JBC Media Specialist, [email protected] demanding that faculty and adminis- BMB. is rst part is about where A. L. Burlingame trators do and be better on issues of the eld currently is in regard to these Editor, MCP Barbara Gordon Executive Director, diversity and inclusion. In December, issues and how people honestly are Edward A. Dennis [email protected] William L. Smith researchers evaluated 30 years of feeling about it. Later, we’ll ask our Co-editors, JLR National Institutes of Health grants members and readers another set of and determined that white scientists’ questions. How can the eld improve? grant applications continue to get What are the real, concrete steps? For information on advertising, contact Pharmaceutical funded at higher rates than minority Where are the promising develop- Media Inc. at 212-904-0374 or [email protected]. scientists’. Head over to Twitter, and ments? you will quickly see that historically If you teach, do any hiring, evaluate marginalized students and researchers grants, nominate people for awards, continue to contend with othering on plan meeting symposia, select speak- www.asbmb.org/asbmbtoday a daily basis. ers, invite review authors and inu- PRINT ISSN 2372-0409 Last month, we asked our readers ence institutional culture, we hope Articles published in ASBMB Today reect solely the authors’ views and not the ocial positions of to weigh in on the current state of you’ll consider participating in this the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology or the institutions with which the authors diversity and inclusion in biochemis- conversation or at least tuning in to are aliated. Mentions of products or services are try and molecular biology. Did they hear what your colleagues have to say. not endorsements. think that BMB embraced or discour- Lauren Dockett and Angela Hopp ©2015 ASBMB 2 ASBMB TODAY FEBRUARY 2016 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Diversity rules By Steven McKnight ver the past several decades, I have worked with my colleagues e historical image of a successful academic scientist is a O in the biochemistry department white male wearing a bow tie and tweed jacket adorned at the University of Texas South- western Medical Center at Dallas to with leather elbow patches. build what has evolved into a unique scientic environment. From the start, covered elsewhere at our institution — with faculty of this description is we collectively decided that what can approach just about any problem as likely to dominate science in the we needed was diversity of scientic in biomedical research. future as a football team that hits the capability. With respect to competitiveness, eld with 11 quarterbacks. Our objective was to build a of course, diversity is not limited to I’ll close with a few words about department that could use almost the variety of scientic disciplines. We Kosaku Uyeda, the sage of our bio- any tool necessary to probe biologi- need scientists ranging in age from our chemistry department. Ko was trained cal systems. We recognized the need young summer interns to the oldest as a biochemist at the University of for expertise in structural biology, member of our faculty, Kosaku Uyeda, Oregon and at the University of Cali- synthetic chemistry, natural products about whom I’ll have more to say fornia, Berkeley, in the late 1950s and chemistry, high-throughput screening below. We need both women and men early 1960s. roughout his career, he and its associated robotics and infor- as critical contributors, and we need has made textbook discoveries telling matics, hardcore biochemistry, small ethnic diversity. us how cells regulate their physiology animal pharmacology, and the use of Longer term, what we have been as a function of access, or lack thereof, model organisms for the study of new trying to build will not last with- to glucose. Ko knows more about and complex problems in biology. out representational diversity. Hard intermediary metabolism than the rest We did not need capabilities in the problems are far better approached by of the entire UTSWMC campus in eld of molecular biology: ose were teams blessed with diversity. When I aggregate. already represented in spades across say hard problems, I refer to chal- Research in fundamental metabo- the UTSWMC campus. For the same lenges that are not guided by any lism went to bed for 30 years. Now reason, we did not need expertise in instructional formula or map. e that the gold rush of molecular biol- genetics, genomics or clinical research. collective knowledge of a team, if ogy and genomics is coming to an What we needed to build a bona homogeneous, is little better than that end, if we want to do anything more de department of biochemistry were of a single member of the team. than mindless data gathering, we are diverse capabilities not, at that time, e historical image of a success- challenged to return to thinking about represented at our school. ful academic scientist is a white male problems that require acumen beyond I emphasize here the importance wearing a bow tie and tweed jacket the four letters of the genetic code. of diversity in research. I liken the adorned with leather elbow patches. Seeing the very youngest of our dierent strengths in our biochemis- is person is awash with grant funds, trainees rub shoulders and gain sagac- try department to those of a football runs a large, self-contained laboratory ity from our oldest faculty member team. A team that has big, strong and travels the world giving lectures gives me a huge boost of condence oensive and defensive linemen, eet and winning awards. Historically, that what we are building may persist. receivers and defensive backs, good promotion committees have wanted to Diversity rules! punters and eld goal kickers, and see this image before granting tenure a good quarterback will beat a team to a faculty member.